Apple Inc (AAPL) and BMW to resume electric car collaboration

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Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) Chief Executive Tim Cook had reportedly visited the BMW headquarters and Apple executives visited the Leipzig factory last year for learning the manufacturing of the i3 electric car. However, the talks did not come to a conclusion as Apple wanted to develop a passenger car on its own.

The report emerged in Germany’s Manager-Magazin last week. BMW were willing to provide spare parts for the Apple Car, but was not willing to share its manufacturing knowledge as it would become a mere supplier to the company. Apple executives have sought detailed information about tooling and production, and the automaker was ready to license the parts.

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“Apple executives were impressed with the fact that we abandoned traditional approaches to car-making and started afresh,” a BMW source.

Though Apple declined to comment and the car maker is not in talks with the company, a source mentioned that talks between the senior manager may be revived in the future. While BMW knows that it is quite difficult to create smart cars without help from software companies, Apple seeks to develop its own electric car similar to Google’s self-driving vehicle. Since the visit, Harald Krueger was appointed as chief executive in May, replacing Herbert Diess who defected to Volkswagen in December.

Hebert Diess who oversaw the development and production of “I” vehicles which are manufactured using lightweight carbon fibre. Deiss has said that the German auto industry needs to change as consumers are seeking for energy-efficient and intelligent cars. He also mentioned that the United States were strong players in the software field and they needed alliances.

However, BMW has already developed next-gen self-driving cars with high-definition maps capable of changing routes when it learns of an accident ahead. In the Silicon Valley, the race for developing self-driving cars has already started with Google and Tesla in the lead, and Apple is hoping to catch up soon.

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